KHS ceramics students sell creations

KENNETT SQUARE – Right past the front doors of Kennett High School were a collage of handmade, ceramic pottery of varying colors for sale adorning three large tables Dec. 19.

The annual tradition brings in money for the ceramics class so they will be able to afford more supplies for the year, such glazes and colors.

“Students who are either level two, three or four with me are the ones that make the items that are for sale,” said Jodi Davidson, the ceramics teacher. “They like being a part of something. They create the pieces and they get to see the sales happen.”

It’s not just students – and normally not the ones who make them – and faculty who buy them as parents and board members will stop by as well.

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“They make great holiday gifts,” Davidson said. “That’s why we do this a couple days before our holiday break. They have mugs and bowls and different things they can give people that are handmade and mean a lot.”

The annual sale has been happening since before Davidson came to Kennett in 2010 and after hearing the commotion over it, decided to keep the tradition going.

“It’s a good way to make money to put back in our budget to order more products,” she said. “A lot of the faculty members came down and talked about how much they loved buying the projects the kids make so I knew it was going to be something that was beneficial for the program.”

With so much in the news these days with arts programs getting cut in schools, it’s a nice change to see students have the ability to take a ceramics class in Kennett.

“It’s a good balance in our education system,” Davidson said. “Everything is important – math, science, English, a language, music, visual arts – we need everything in order for our students to become well rounded.

“If we take a part of that puzzle out, I feel like kids don’t get the overall experience of why public education is important. When we offer everything like here in Kennett, kids enjoy coming to school and they love the fact they can do a little bit of everything. When kids like school, it makes everybody happy.”

And the students are happy and excited to be offered a class like this, which is proof enough by the fact that Davidson teaches six classes per day and they supplied plenty of pottery for the sale.

The price for the pieces ranged anywhere from $5 for smaller bowls up to $40 for the larger ones while all mugs were $10.

All of the pieces made are microwavable and dishwasher safe and have a special type of glaze which makes them safe to eat or drink out of.

Davidson would know best.

“I eat only out of bowls we make,” she said.

Anything not sold, which usually isn’t much, is stored until another sale in the spring.

Davidson noted that former students like to come back and sing praises about the class. All she can do is smile at the impact it has had on them and the current students.

“For them to come in and start working with their hands and take a lump of clay and create something like a teapot,” Davidson said. “They learn the foundation and then all the sudden they’re creating these things that they never thought were possible.

“For any kid, for any student, that is what school is about.”

About the Author

Candice Monhollan is a 2012 Temple University graduate. She loves to cover sports, especially hockey. She enjoys marching with the Reading Buccaneers Drum & Bugle Corps and has a love of U.S. military history, which includes reenacting. Reach the author at cmonhollan@dailylocal.com
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